(ANSA-AFP) - FRANKFURT, APR 17 - The European Central Bank
cut interest rates again Thursday amid fears that US President
Donald Trump's stop-start tariff announcements could threaten
growth across the eurozone. ECB policymakers decided to lower
rates by a quarter-point, marking the central bank's sixth
consecutive cut to borrowing costs for the single-currency area.
The decision brought the ECB's benchmark deposit rate down to
2.25 percent, the lowest it has been since the beginning of
2023. Rate-setters have slowly lowered borrowing costs in the
eurozone as inflation has drifted back towards the ECB's
two-percent target. But while inflation was headed in the right
direction, "the outlook for growth has deteriorated owing to
rising trade tensions", the ECB said in a statement. The ECB had
looked set to pause its cuts after its last meeting in March but
the fears stirred up by Trump's whirlwind tariff policy look to
have forced its hand. Thursday's cut "came as little surprise",
ING bank analyst Carsten Brzeski said. Having sought a "very
measured" approach to gradually bring rates down, the ECB now
risked "falling behind the curve once again", Brzeski said.
(ANSA-AFP).
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